EDDIE HOWE’S former chairman Eddie Mitchell is a Newcastle fan now — after being booted out of Bournemouth.
And Mitchell admits to being “devastated” that he will not be able to watch Howe’s second return to the Vitality Stadium today.
Howe spent the best part of 12 years at the Cherries, leading them from the bottom of League Two to the Premier League in two spells.
It was Mitchell who negotiated Howe’s return from Burnley in 2012 during his four-year spell in charge.
That history-making decision came off big time and Howe drove the side into the top-flight for the first time in the club’s history — backed by Russian money.
Local property developer Mitchell, 69, was responsible for introducing major share-holder Maxim Demin to the South Coast club.
But soon after the Russian bought the Cherries, Mitchell was banned from Bournemouth and told never to return.
And now Mitchell has switched allegiance to Howe’s Toon, saying: “What happened at Bournemouth left me devastated.
“I am a lifelong Cherries fan but I am not allowed to watch them because I am banned.
“I was banned within two weeks after I sold the club to the Russian.
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“I got a letter from a solicitor saying that I was no longer welcome and, if I turned up for a match, I would be escorted out of the ground and the police would be called.
“I was born in Bournemouth and still love the club that has given us Ted MacDougal, Harry Redknapp and Steve Fletcher — people who have made a name for themselves.
“For me Eddie is at the top of the list though — and is now doing a fantastic job, which is why I am a Newcastle supporter now.
“I love the football they are playing and you can see they are playing through him.
“You see the energy they are putting in and his enthusiasm and knowledge must rub off on everyone around him.”
Mitchell is a full-on member of the Eddie Howe Fan Club having seen him at work in his formative managerial days.
The former Portsmouth and Cherries defender, whose career was cut short by injury, became interim boss on New Year’s Day in 2009 after Jimmy Quinn was sacked.
Howe led the cash-strapped League Two strugglers to safety having put his hands in his own pocket to help the club survive.
And Mitchell soon found out what a workaholic he was — which sometimes put his nose out of joint.
Mitchell explained: “I was Eddie’s chairman for his first full season in management and we had our ups and downs.
“Eddie and his No 2 Jason Tindall were chalk and cheese but their relationship worked.
“I remember one day we were losing 3-0 against Notts County and I said to my friends, ‘I’m going home, I can’t be doing this’.
“I was new to league football and didn’t really know what I was doing but when I walked past our dressing room I went in and told the team what I thought of them.
“Eddie looked at me in disbelief and the next day he phoned me up to say he and Jason were resigning.
“About ten minutes later I thought, ‘Oh s**t, this is not right’. I phoned his back and said, ‘I’m not accepting your resignations’.”
But Mitchell soon saw what a wise move it was keeping Howe. He said: “Eddie is very clever, very honest, and that doesn’t always suit people.
“But he’s also very hardworking and dedicated to achieving.
“He was the only person at the club who would pee me off in the mornings when he would get into work before me.
“I liked to lead from the front being the first one in and letting everyone know that was the case.
“But sometimes I’d drive around the corner around 7am, or earlier, and would go ‘f***’ when I’d see his car already there.”
Mitchell now owns Poole-based Elite Skills Arena, manufacturing hi-tech football training products used by the likes of Barcelona.
But he still misses his days at the Cherries when Howe was king.
Mitchell added: “We were both of a similar make-up and he is a really loyal person — I really miss working with him.”
